An area fire department is among 60 from across the country receiving life-saving grain rescue tools and training.

Rural communities continue to face hazards associated with working in and around grain structures. In 2022 alone, there were at least 42 grain entrapments – the highest number in over a decade – resulting in 15 fatalities.

To help prevent tragic accidents and deaths, Nationwide and its partners are providing life-saving grain rescue tubes and training to 60 fire departments across rural America through its 2023 Grain Bin Safety campaign.

In partnership with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), Nationwide and its partners have now supplied grain rescue equipment and training to 332 first responders across 32 states to help prepare them when local grain entrapments occur.

 After receiving thousands of nominations in the 2023 Nominate Your Fire Department Contest, an annual component of Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign, the insurer and its partners are proud to have awarded grain rescue tubes and training to the following 60 fire departments this year.

The Longford Rural Fire District is among those receiving the life saving equipment and training.

Since beginning the Grain Bin Safety campaign in 2014, at least seven fire departments have utilized their rescue tubes and training to successfully rescue entrapped individuals, including a recent Ohio rescue of a worker trapped up to his armpits in March 2023.